Proud Mary Keep On Burning
by Sharkwoman
Summary: From being cool to word vomit, sarcastic to heartfelt, Artie's got a lot of sides to him. A collection of drabbles/one-shots dedicated to the guitar-playing nerd who thinks he's cool, Artie Abrams. Multiple characters involved.
1. Contradictory

Wow, it's been a while since I've uploaded anything here. You know, that one other little story I have. =P

Anyway, I've become such a huge Gleek that I couldn't resist writing _something_. Especially for my favorite character, Mr. Artie Abrams.

This guy does not get enough love around here, I swear. As much as I love Finn/Kurt/Rachel, etc and their respective relationships, I really wish Artie gets more love than he does. He's a sweetheart. 3

Anyway, I've decided to do these little drabbles/oneshots (maybe a multi-chapter one, I'm not sure yet) in honor of our favorite wheelchair-bound nerd. They'll range from angsty to humorous to fluffy to whatever. So if fluffy!Artie isn't your thing, there'll be others.

This whole idea was inspired by **jackiekenney**'s "Say A Little Prayer" collection of drabblets centered around Quinn. Go check it out, they're incredible.

I'm not sure if I'm gonna make this a daily update kind of thing or not, but considering how this is a collection of stories that are basically 200 words long, there's gonna be a lot of updates either way.

Alright, I'm done talking, on with the first one!

* * *

Frankly, whoever came up with the idea of wanting what you can't have should be slapped.

Because Artie's come to realize that's the story of his life.

Okay, maybe not in not so many words. After all, he's got the girl of his dreams. He's surrounded by amazing friends, and he's _happy_.

But when it comes to his biggest dreams..

…well, being in a wheelchair and wanting to be a dancer has to be some kind of perverse will of God. It was almost like a defiance against himself.

See, Artie hadn't always wanted to be a dancer. Before the accident, there were hundreds of things he wanted to be (as it is with all kids). Fireman, astronaut, scientist. You name it.

It wasn't until after the accident where he started to notice the perfect flow of body movement to the beat of music, and something that started out as a curious interest bloomed into almost a craving. He longed to just get up and dance, move around, _feel_ the music, as cliché as that sounded.

Of course, he came to terms with his condition. Artie knew that he could never become a dancer. He focused on other things, like guitar playing and singing. He joined Glee club, and watched as the other members rocked out to the music, without any resentment or bitterness. He's long since accepted the restrictions that fateful accident left him with.

Still…

"_And on that paper, I want to write down your biggest dream. A dream that means so much, you're afraid to admit even to yourself."_

Artie wrote down only one word.

* * *

Good? Bad? OOC? I need input, ya'll!

I just realized the ridiculously long A/N was almost as long as the story. Ah well, they're called drabbles for a reason. And don't worry, the A/Ns won't be that long after this, and there will definitely be stories longer than this one. =P


	2. Subtle Friendship

Whoo, second one-shot! Thanks so much to **.xx**, **doodleswriter357** (by the way, I've seen your videos and I love them them), and **Average Everyday Sane Psycho** for the kind reviews!

* * *

In the beginning, Artie saw her the way everybody else did. Irritating, bossy, and overly confident. Often he just wanted put his hands over his ears every time she started on how nobody was working as hard as she was, that they were all being slackers, blah blah blah. Typical Berry nagging.

He knew he should've tried to empathized with her. After all, they were both outcasts and relentlessly tormented. Artie was well aware that the cruel drawings and whispers were on a much greater scale for Rachel than himself. But a small, shameful part of him felt a sense of relief. While Rachel was often alone, at least he had Mercedes, Kurt, and Tina to lean on. For once, the wheelchair kid has it better than someone else.

So while at least Artie didn't argue with Rachel the way Mercedes and Kurt did, he didn't go out of his way to interact with her.

The afternoon right after the "Run Joey Run" disaster, Artie was headed down the hallway to his SAT prep class. He was flipping through his notes when he spotted a figure sitting on the ground, leaning against the lockers. He wheeled forward and saw that it was Rachel, head buried in her knees.

Covered in slushie. Of course.

But it wasn't normal, seeing her just sit there. Most slushie victims head straight for the bathrooms the second they get splattered with the icy-cold drink because it's way harder to get out of the hair if you let it sit, not to mention the stains.

"Rachel? Are you okay?" _Of course she's not okay, she looks like a human popsicle. The way everybody walked out on her during the last Glee rehearsal probably didn't help either._

Ten seconds pass in silence. Twenty. Thirty.

Artie realizes that Rachel isn't going to say anything, so he grabs his bag hanging behind him and digs through it until he finds the box of wipes and a small towel. He then wheels up to Rachel and silently hands over both items to her. The first thing she wipes is her face.

Rachel finally looks up, and he tries give her a smile. But he finds it's really hard to smile at someone who looks completely shattered. He's never seen Rachel look so vulnerable.

She stands up and starts to clean off her arms, then hair. Artie sits patiently with hands folded in his lap and stays with her until she's done, even though he knows he's missing his class.

Rachel pushes her hair back, and Artie's relieved to see that some of the old confidence has returned.

They walked outside together, Rachel's hand on Artie's back.

* * *

They never talked about that incident after it happened, but something definitely changed. While before Rachel would dance around and pull Finn with her, she would now push Artie to the front. Sometimes during performances, she would put a hand on his shoulder.

Sometimes he still found her incredibly annoying, and he knew that she still thought he was a burden on the group sometimes.

But only sometimes.

As they were announcing the runner-up of the 2010 Regionals competition, Artie felt a hand slip into his. When he opened the eyes he'd been clenching shut, he looked up and saw Rachel with her eyes closed as well.

"_And the winners for the 2010 Midwest Regionals Showchoir Championship are…"_

They both squeezed each other's hands at the same time.

* * *

Anybody else notice the little moments with Rachel and Artie, how they sing together, etc? I think these two could have a really cute friendship (not as cute as Quinn and Artie, though. MAKE IT HAPPEN, WRITERS!).

Anyway, I wanted to do something a little bit different. Maybe some more Rachel/Artie friendship drabblets in the future, definitely some Puck/Artie. If you don't like either one of those, there'll be others of course (Artie/Tina, Artie/Quinn, etc). Some'll be friendships, others romance. We'll see. ;)

Review, por favor!

EDIT: If this wasn't clear, Rachel's sitting there in the hallway's right after the entire Glee club walks out on her during "Total Eclipse of the Heart". As you know, the jocks are relentless with their slushying, and, well...use your imagination.


	3. Brand New

Another thank to ya'll leaving reviews, you're amazing! Thanks especially to **Average Everyday Insane Psycho** for pointing out the "Run Joey Run" mistake (even when I say it out loud, it comes out as "Run Jesse Run". I have no clue why)

Alright, so this next one takes place a day after Quinn gives birth, located at the hospital. Enjoy!

* * *

Two knocks.

"Come in" calls Quinn, not taking her eyes off of the bundle she's holding.

Artie wheels himself in and up to her bed. "Hey Quinn. You feeling alright?"

Quinn smiles. "Yeah, a little tired though."

After a moment's pause, Artie asks "Can I hold her?" He wasn't really sure what made him ask, he wasn't exactly a baby-loving kind of guy. To be honest, newborns kind of reminded him of space aliens, or boiled shrimp.

But there was something about the way Quinn looked so _peaceful_, holding her child (maybe holding babies does something like that to you, all new mothers have that same look in the movies). Either way, he wants to feel some of that peace.

Quinn's taken aback. The only other person who's held Beth is Puck, and she's not so sure she wants to hand over her daughter to the guy who -although is definitely the sweetest guy in the entire club- she isn't really that close with, even though she's long since dropped the Wheelchair Nerd label she once dubbed him with.

Maybe it's the earnest way he's looking at Beth, like he's expecting her to give him something.

"Sure, Artie. Just make sure to support her head."

Carefully he takes the tightly-wrapped bundle from Quinn's arms and looks at the tiny thing wrapped within.

Beth definitely looked like a boiled shrimp. But Artie marvels at how _tiny _everything was. Eyes, ears, hands and fingers. _Wow._

He sticks out his index finger to gently touch the baby's hand, and smiles when she grabs the finger.

* * *

Short but sweet. Please leave a review!


	4. Nefarious

Fourth installment of the **Proud Mary Keep On Burning** series. Thanks again to all my lovely reviewers, ya'll rock!

Enjoy!

* * *

"Aaw, look Artie! Isn't Amy Lee adorable when she's sleeping?"

Tina pointed to her small grey cat, who was currently snoozing on her bed.

"I still think that's a weird name for a cat." Artie muttered while shifting through the World History notes he and Tina were supposed to be studying for tomorrow's test.

"I like Evanescence, sue me. Anyway, I'm gonna go get us some Oreos."

The second the door closed shut behind her, Amy Lee's eyes snapped open. Artie glared at her.

"You stay away from me."

Amy Lee let out a soft hiss, then jumped onto the floor and slowly made her way to where Artie had stationed himself.

"Nuh-uh. I don't care that Tina's only had you for two days, I'm gonna throw you out the window if you get all psychotic like you did yesterday. Tina might not know about how demonic you are, but she'll see through your facade soon enough."

Artie then realized that he was making monologue to a cat.

"I seriously need to get out more." He thought to himself, and went back to his notes.

When he looked back down, he saw Amy Lee swiping furiously at his legs and realized she'd probably been using him as a scratching post for the past five minutes.

"Joke's on you, I can't feel what you're doing." He said with a smirk that quickly changed into a look of horror when she jumped onto his lap.

"Nononono-"

"Hey, I'm back. Did you find those notes on Columbus?" She put the cookies on the floor and glanced at Artie.

Amy Lee was batting at Artie's glasses in a completely gentle manner.

Tina walked over to Artie and leaned into his ear. "I think she's trying to give you a hint."

She slipped off Artie's glasses and gave him a kiss.

For a full minute, too. Artie counted.

When she pulled away, she smiled. "You know, it's more fun to kiss you without the glasses."

"Yeah, only now I can barely see you."

Tina slid the glasses back on (taking care not to poke his eye, talk about a mood killer) and gave him a small peck on the lips. She stroked the cat sitting on her boyfriend's lap, who began to lie down and purr contentedly.

Tina turned her back on the two to rifle through her backpack to find the missing notes, and Artie leaned down to whisper to the cat, "Alright, I forgive you now. From now on, we'll have peace."

He then noticed her paws tighten, a sign that she was digging her claws into his thighs.

* * *

Finally, some Artina! To be honest, I've been getting the feeling I've been making the others too serious, I was happy to make something a little more light-hearted.

Generally, I don't like giving away what the one-shot's going to be about in the first A/N, hence why I wasn't all "Hey guys, here's some Artina fluff!". I'd rather have it as a surprise. =P

Anyway, please review. Over 500 hits and only what, 9 reviews? _C'mon people!_


	5. Liberated

Hey guys! I want to thank each and every person who reviewed (I enabled the Anonymous Review option, that helped some). There will definitely be more Quartie/Artina coming your way, and Puck/Artie will come soon enough!

As for some Brittany/Artie (friendship only, I'm not much for straight Brittany ships), I was planning on doing a separate one-shot from this collection because it was going to be Brittany's POV, and because it wasn't going to be Artie-centered.

Anyway, on to the next story!

___________________________________________

* * *

_

The doctor gave him the leg braces at the beginning of the school year. She told him they would be good for stretching out his legs and getting the blood flowing.

The first thing Artie did when he got home from that doctor's visit was shove the braces to the back of his closet. Using those braces would mean venturing out to unknown territory, and he didn't want to shake the solid and safe foundation of being subjected to the chair the rest of his life.

Then that Dakota Stanley guy told him he was holding back the rest of the group.

__________________________________________

"_You're not trying hard enough."_

Of course, it was completely ridiculous to tell a kid in a wheelchair he wasn't trying hard enough at doing the impossible, but that sparked something inside Artie.

When he got home that day, he slowly wheeled himself to the closet. After a few moment's hesitation, he opened the door and rifled around with all the stuff he'd stored in the back of the closet until he felt the cool metal. He yanked back his hand as if it had burned him.

Maybe he was overreacting a little, but he had never stood up, not since the accident. He was almost afraid of what would happen if he tried.

______________________________________

_Stupid._

He shut the doors and forgot about them once again.

Artie went on his first date with the Goth girl with blue streaks in her hair. They raced, they laughed, then they kissed.

Then she dropped the biggest bombshell ever, or at least that's what it felt like at the time.

____________________________________

"_I'm sorry that now you get to be the normal one, and I'm still stuck in this chair. And that's not something I can fake."_

This time there was no hesitation. He yanked open the door and took the braces out. He stared at them for a full 30 seconds, then sighed. He was being stupid again. The braces weren't going to help this situation at all.

The braces slid back into the closet. But he didn't forget about them like before.

When Tina mentioned having some kind of dance project with him, Artie was filled with a naïve hope that he'd long since banished. After Biology, he wheeled up to John Hubner and asked to borrow his extra pair of crutches.

Of course, _that_ didn't work out so well.

________________________________

_That's what you get for trying to be something you're not._

He didn't return the sticks, though.

After losing Regionals and ultimately losing Glee club, Artie looked around his friends and teammates during "To Sir, With Love" and thought about everything that happened the past year. Mercedes starved herself, thinking she wasn't thin enough and came out of that dark period stronger than ever. Kurt finally accepted who he was, regardless of what people though. Tina stopped denying herself friendship and smiled more than Artie had ever seen her. Rachel became a team player, and worked hard for everyone's sake besides her own. So many of them had overcome their own personal weaknesses, whatever the risks.

_What's keeping me from doing the same?_

After he got home, he went up to his room and calmly retrieved the braces.

They were pretty long. _They probably don't want to take any chances with people falling over._

He undid the hatches and slid his left leg in first, then the right in the other. He closed the little clamps and reached for the crutches he had borrowed months ago.

Like before, he pushed himself upward using all his upper body strength, this time without anybody holding him.

There was a remarkable difference from last time. The braces gave him more support, allowing him to relax his upper body. He looked at himself in the mirror.

He didn't look dramatically different. He still had his green sweater vest (which he wasn't sure he was going to wear again after Kurt had threatened to kill him for it) over his white button-up shirt, same orthopedic shoes, same glasses and blue eyes. But he was_ standing_.

He decided to take it one step further.

He took his left crutch and leaned it against the wall.

Slowly he took removed his right crutch from under his arm and put it with the other one, hand shaking ever so slightly. Then he carefully placed both hands in his pockets.

Artie looked up at the mirror one more time. What he saw this time was much more different.

A normal teen.

Not the Wheelchair Freak, not the cripple. Now he was just Artie.

Artie didn't delude himself. He knew this was just an illusion.

But it was the feeling of finally being independent from the chair, Tina, hell_______________________, everyone, _that he got. And that was all he needed.

_____

* * *

_

Funny, even though this is the sixth one, it's only the second ficlet that has only Artie in it.

On another note, I'm thinking about changing the titles of the chapters. I feel like they should be titled more on Artie's traits, rather than random phrases. What do you guys think, yes or no?

Thanks for reading!


	6. Schmaltz

To everyone who reviewed: I love you all. Seriously, you guys are the best. I'm gonna repeat that like a broken record every time I post a new drabblet 'cause it's true.

Anyway, "Shmaltz" isn't exactly the perfect word to describe this fic, but it was pretty close. Plus I love that word.

Hope ya'll enjoy this next one!

* * *

He heard Mercedes sniffle on his right.

_Keep it together Artie._

Tina's lip was wobbling.

_It's gonna be okay._

Kurt wasn't even trying to hide it, he was practically sobbing.

_C'mon, be a man._

Artie clenched his fists and willed himself not to cry. He tried to distracted himself by looking anywhere else. He needed to be strong. Especially since it was pretty obvious it was up to him to be the man of the group, from the way tears were streaming down Kurt's face.

A small teardrop escaped from his left eye.

_Damnit._

He snuck a glance to his friends on his right, and quick as lightening, tore off his glasses and wiped the offending tear away before forcing them back on, almost stabbing his eye out in the process.

He looked back at the heartbreaking scene unfolding in front of him and repeated to himself in his head, _I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry._

"So long, partner…"

Artie forced himself to swallow down the immediate responding sob and made a big business of digging through the popcorn so that none of them could see that he was almost blind from all the tears.

_When did I become such a girl? I swear, this is the last time Tina picks out the movie._

As the end credits rolled and the four friends got up to go leave, Mercedes turned to Artie. "You really enjoyed the movie, huh?"

Artie, who was still rubbing his eyes, snapped his head up to her voice. "Um, yeah. Pretty good."

"Boy, don't you even pretend you weren't crying the entire time. I could barely hear what was going on over your 'huurrk'ing"

"My 'hurrrk'ing?"

"Yeah, it's the sound people make when they're about to cry." Kurt piped up, evidently collecting himself together, Artie was impressed to see. Then again, he figured his well-dressed friend had plenty of experience to be able to snap back to normal after getting all emotional at a movie.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about. All the 'hurrking' came from Kurt."

Tina laughed. "Seriously, Kurt. You said you've already seen _Toy Story 3_ two times before, how can you still get so emotional?"

Kurt sniffed, though not the same type of sniffing he was doing earlier. "Excuse me for appreciating a good movie when I see one."

As they were walking out to the parking lot, the conversation continued.

"And now we know that Toy Story makes Wheels cry like nobody's business."

"For the last time, it wasn't me." growled Artie, albeit weakly.

His sudden urge to run over everyone's toes with his chair, however, wasn't so weak when he caught them all smirking at each other.

* * *

Only a soulless automaton could've not cried at the ending of _Toy Story 3. _Or at least wanted to.

R&R plox!


	7. Unconventional

Hey guys! Without any special introduction, here's the eight installment.

Takes place right after "Laryingitis". Enjoy!

* * *

Artie wasn't really sure how he ended up finding sad girls sitting alone in places, but it wasn't a pattern he liked to repeat.

It's not like he didn't _like_ being there for his friends or anything, but Artie wasn't exactly the kind of guy people went to for comfort. He was the one with the chronic word vomit, after all.

He and Quinn had been the last ones to leave the choir room after Glee rehearsal. Artie, because he needed talk to the Jazz club to ask them if they could play for them for Regionals. Quinn because, well, she was seven months along and it took her about five minutes just to get up.

They were walking outside the school and heading towards the newly-added ramp when they saw Brittany sitting right at the ramp's entrance, inadvertently blocking it.

Artie paused for a second, then tapped Brittany's shoulder. "Uh, hey Brittany. Could you-"

"Can you guys give me a hug?" she asked abruptly.

Artie raised his eyebrows. "Say what?"

Brittany explained in her typical slow, breathy voice. "Earlier today, I was telling Santana about my date with Kurt yesterday, and how his hands were really soft, and she started getting annoyed. Then I told her about how Kurt's kiss was so much better than most of the other guys' 'cause his lips didn't have that weird dip taste and she got really mad. She said 'This is about keeping a record, you're not supposed to actually _like_ the guy. Even you're not _that_ stupid, Brittany!' and stormed off. And I'm really confused 'cause I don't know what I did wrong and Santana hates me and I just feel really sad."

Artie and Quinn looked at each other. They both knew perfectly well why Santana had reacted the way she had. It was a reason pretty much everyone in Glee knew about, if not the entire school. It wasn't as if Artie had let the images dance around in his head or anything.

On cue, a vision Santana and Brittany having a makeout session popped up. _Hot._

As if Quinn knew exactly what Artie was fantasizing about, she elbowed his head and rolled her eyes. _Typical teenage boy._

"Anyway, I always feel better about stuff when I get a hug." Brittany stood up and looked at Quinn and Artie expectantly.

Artie thought it was oddly ironic how Brittany was asking for a hug from the two people who were least physically capable of giving it. He looks at Quinn again and decided to go first. He wheeled himself closer to Brittany and expected for her to lean down and give him an awkward side-hug (that's pretty much how most of his hugs end up, being in a chair 24/7).

He's completely in shock when Brittany, with a freakish amount of strength, pulls Artie out of the chair and holds him like a rag doll.

"Um, Brit? This is kind of weird."

She doesn't respond, so he just relaxes and wraps his arms around her.

He looked at Quinn over Brittany's shoulder, and he was embarrassed to see tears in Quinn's eyes. _Great__. As a man, I'm really not_ _equipped to deal with girl-tears. Especially pregnancy hormone-induced ones._

Quinn shuffled over and wraps her arm around Brittany's back and hugged her as much as her huge stomach would allow.

This whole thing is still really weird, and it has too much of a chick-flick feel to it. Still, he can't deny he kind of likes it.

It's been a while since he's given a full-body hug, after all.

* * *

I was planning on doing a Brittany POV one shot featuring this kind of scene (completely separate from this series), but I decided not to. I'm something of a lazy-ass. =P

The first bit of this one-shot was a direct reference to "Subtle Friendship", but that's pretty much as far as I'm gonna go with connecting one ficlet with another. They're meant to be separate.

Also, hopefully I didn't make Artie OOC with the perviness. He is a red-blooded 16-year-old boy, after all. =P But if I did, let me know. One thing I can't stand in fanfiction is OOCness.

Anyway, please leave a review! Thank you for reading.


	8. Life's Derisions

A brown-haired eight-year-old boy swung straight forward to his destination at the other end of the monkey bars. One by one, he reached the end closer and closer, trying to ignore the burning of his fingers.

He almost got to the last bar when-

"Artie! Your dentist appointment is in fifteen minutes, we need to leave!"

The call of his mother distracted him enough for his hand to slip, causing him to tumble down to the ground.

He fumbled around for his glasses, and when he found them he yelled "I'll be right there, just give me a minute!"

He ran back up to the play structure and started up on the monkey bars again. This time he focused on distributing his weight with every swing, and kept his legs limp. It was definitely more of a challenge this time, with his fingers already smarting from the first time he'd rubbed his hands along the metal.

Keeping his eyes focused on only one thing, the last bar, he kept moving as quickly as he could. But when he reached the middle, the pain on his hands were too much to ignore, and he dropped himself on the ground.

His mother, who was watching him, smiled and rubbed her son's red hands when he finally reached her. "Don't be so disappointed, Artie. You can try again when we get back."

* * *

Guess what's going to happen on the way to the dentist's office? Poor Artie. =/

Wow, this is probably the closest thing to a "drabble" as I've ever gotten, only about 300 words.

I'm gonna be away for a month on vacation, and most likely I won't be able to update during that time (I might, though!). So hopefully you guys won't have given up on me by the time I get back. ;_;

Anyway, I love all you reviewers and readers, thanks again for reading!

-Cristina


	9. Resolve

Holy cow, I'm alive!

Yes, I know I'm severely behind with this. I'm sorry. D: I had a good vacation, even though I got my cell phone stolen. *le sigh*

Anyway, here's some Artie/Tina angst. Spoilers for season 2 (that probably already gives you a pretty big hint what this ficlet's about).

Inspired by Trading Yesterday's "May I". I love that song, it's a beautiful ballad. Go ahead and listen to it for a bit, you'll get a better feel for this one-shot if you do.

* * *

Artie can feel Quinn stare burning a hole right through him. He does his best to ignore it. To ignore Mercedes's stare. Kurt's. Even Rachel's shooting him quick glances of concern.

He grips the armrest of his chair with one hand and clenched hard when the music begins, when Mike passed by him to meet up with Tina at the other end of the stage.

Artie isn't singing the song this time. This year, Mr. Shue decided to give other kids more chances to sing.

Mike Chang would be the one to sing the solo.

"_There you stand, opened heart, open doors…"_

She looks so beautiful.

Unlike last time, she isn't wearing any kind of special dress. This is just a rehearsal for the opening song for Sectionals.

But approaching Mike, her face lit up in a smile, and taking his hand to take their place in the front stage, Tina Cohen-Chang is _alive_.

"_Full of life where the world is wanting more…"_

Another difference with this routine was that there isn't any tap-dancing. All movement would be silent and elegant. At least, that's how Rachel put it. Though Tina had come up with the whole routine, Rachel had put the kibosh on the tapping. "It's far too distracting, the judges will focus only on the tap-tapping of your shoes and not the vocals!"

Artie would've preferred anything over this intimacy. It was ten times worse in this performance than any other time, when Mike and Tina were just laughing and talking together during Glee practice. Not that _that _was easy to watch, either.

"_Let me raise you up. Let me be your love…"_

Artie had to admit that Mike was pretty good. He wasn't male-lead potential or anything, but you could tell how much heart he put into his singing.

That's exactly what made Artie hate it all the most.

It wasn't just Mike twirling Tina around (although he resented him for that, too). It was his singing. All his passion and heart was poured into that song, because he was dancing with the girl he loved.

Tina.

"_All I want is to keep you safe from the cold…"_

Artie doesn't want to hate anyone. He tries to be a nice guy, even though his sexism sometimes gets the better of him.

But watching Mike serenade her like that, right in front of the entire Glee club, right in front of _him_, makes it impossible for Artie to focus on singing the background vocals with everyone else and keep his emotions in check at the same time.

"_To give you all your heart needs the most…"_

He knows this is completely his own fault. Tina had always been there for him when he needed her, but he hadn't done the same. Sick of only giving, never receiving, Tina walked away.

"_All that's made me is all worth trading, just to have one moment with you…"_

A small, darker part of himself wonders how long it was before he and Tina broke up that she wanted to be sung to by an able-bodied boyfriend. It couldn't have been a coincidence that she chooses the guy she first danced with in Glee after they broke up.

Two seconds after allowing that thought to sink in, he wills himself to stop wallowing. He knows Tina breaking up with him had nothing to do with his disability and everything to do with being a crappy boyfriend_._

He was going to make it up to her. He wasn't going to give up until he had her back. _This time I'm going to make things right._

He sings the last line with along Mike in a whisper.

"_When no one can be found, may I lay you down?"_

* * *

Somewhat songficish, I know. But I tried my best to steer clear of the ugly habits of most songfics, which is copy and pasting a paragraph of lyrics every couple of other paragraphs of the story. I really can't stand those kind of fics.

I wrote this super late at night, so if there's any kind of errors, let me now. There's a good chance I'll edit this again tomorrow, because I'm just that tired right now. D:

I might be discontinuing this series, because I'm thinking about starting a multi-chapter fic featuring Puck and Artie. Kinda a Freaky Friday sort of thing, switching bodies and all the fun that ensues.

Anyway, review please! Thanks for reading, I love ya'll.

-Cristina


	10. Stands

Gah, I've taken too long to update this! I'm sorry guys, school's taken over my life. Thank Cheesus for Christmas break! (Speaking of which, LOVED the Christmas ep)

This one happens in "Furt".

* * *

The intervention doesn't go quite as planned, but the message was sent, at least.

"_Stop picking on Kurt."_

Last year, you couldn't pay Artie to _dare_ speak to Dave Karofsky in anything more than a submissive "Not the grape slushy, please." But things had changed since then. Kurt was one of his closest friends, and while football was originally just harebrained scheme to win back Tina, it had actually improved Artie's self-confidence, now giving him the courage to glare up at the giant Neanderthal and order him to leave Kurt alone.

Of course, it was a given that Karofsky wouldn't listen to Artie alone. Hence why Mike was with him.

"_We're serious. This is a warning."_

The argument starts heating up, while Puck glowers in the background. Unable to do anything but watch, since being sent back to juvie is the last thing he wants (however much he brags about the experience).

Finally, Karofsky snaps. "Look, _you _back off!" He shoves Mike into Artie, who gets knocked out of his chair. Artie's head hits the ground with a painful thud, and his glasses clatter to the ground.

Springing into action, Puck runs over to him. "Artie, are you okay?" Artie feels a flash of irritation. What, because he's in a chair he's got a lower endurance level than Mike? Still, he can't help smiling in spite of that (and his now-throbbing head). Puck never would've rushed over to his aid like that a month ago.

Sam's now thrown himself into the fight, and he and Karofsky knee, punch, and kick each other while the rest of the guys watch.

Artie glances at Mike, who's watching the scuffle with narrowed eyes. He still couldn't find it in himself to outright _like_ the guy, but Artie had to admit that moment of unity when they stood up against their fellow Glee clubber felt pretty good.

After Beiste breaks up the fight, Puck pulls up the chair upright and Mike offers an arm to Artie to help pull himself back in. Artie thanks him quietly and straightens out his uniform. There's an awkward pause, then Mike says "Well, that could've gone better." Artie chuckles a little. "Yeah, you could say that."

* * *

This one wasn't really anything big and meaningful, but ouch, that fall looked painful. Plus I thought it would be nice to have a Mike-Artie moment written somewhere.

As always, reviews are love. 3


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